ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE

March 18, 2020
Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka
10th Fl. State Office Building
Juneau, AK 99811
<Delivered Electornically>
Dear Commissioner Tshibaka,
We are writing to request that you take immediate and decisive action to protect state employees and the
public from COVID-19. State employees are at significant risk, and we must not allow state institutions
to serve as vectors for this virus. We would appreciate your consideration of the following
recommendations:
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All state employees who are capable of working from home should do so immediately.
State employees who must remain at work in person must be provided with personal protective
equipment, cleaning supplies, and infection prevention training to minimize risk of transmission.
State employees must be reassured they will be paid, and not penalized, for remaining home if
they feel ill. Many of our state employees are lower wage, and cannot afford lost wages if they
are penalized for self-quarantining.
The state should have a policy of minimizing direct contact among state employees, and between
state employees and the public.

With confirmed cases in multiple jurisdictions, an inadequate number of test kits resulting in many
potential cases going untested, and no meaningful travel restrictions from other regions of high infection
rates, Alaska will almost certainly face exponential growth of COVID-19 within a matter of weeks if not
days. Please take aggressive action to prevent avoidable deaths among our state employee workforce, and
to ensure the state itself is not a vector for transmission.
Thank you for your consideration,

Representative Zack Fields

Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins